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Letting Go: What Should Medicine Do When It Can’t Save Your Life?

By Atul Gawande — 2010

Sara Thomas Monopoli was pregnant with her first child when her doctors learned that she was going to die. It started with a cough and a pain in her back. Then a chest X-ray showed that her left lung had collapsed, and her chest was filled with fluid.

Read on www.newyorker.com

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An Introduction to the Death-Positive Movement

In most modern cultures, it’s common for people to feel uneasy about death. We express this discomfort by avoiding conversations on the topic and lowering our voices when speaking of the dead and dying.

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Terminal Options for the Irreversibly Ill

My Feb. 5 column, “A Heartfelt Appeal for a Graceful Exit,” prompted a deluge of information and requests for information on how people too sick to reap meaningful pleasure from life might be able to control their death.

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Alternatives for the Final Disposition

Though I wince at the redundancy, funeral “pre-planning” is a phenomenon receiving increased attention, and a growing number of Web-based guides tell how to go about it. As www.funerals.org puts it: “Funeral planning starts at home.

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Olympic Swimmer Nathan Adrian on Testicular Cancer Diagnosis: I ‘Felt Betrayed by My Own Body’

For the first time in forever, Nathan Adrian truly has no idea if he’ll have a strong swim Friday. And at this point, it doesn’t really matter to the five-time Olympic gold medalist. He’s simply elated to be back.

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I Was Betrayed by My Body

‘Skin cancer worked its way into my lymph nodes. I was devastated.’

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Young People Facing End-of-Life Care Decisions

It is extremely difficult for anyone, especially young people in their 20s and 30s, to be told that their treatment(s) haven’t worked. If the cancer you have continues to progress despite treatment, it may be called end-stage cancer.

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Emotions and Coping as You Near the End of Life

This is written for the person with advanced cancer, but it can be helpful to the people who care for, love, and support this person, too.

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What Cancer Takes Away

When I got sick, I warned my friends: Don’t try to make me stop thinking about death.

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When Your Fears About Dying Are Unhealthy

The fear of death and dying is quite common, and most people fear death to varying degrees. To what extent that fear occurs and what it pertains to specifically varies from one person to another.

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My Own Life

A month ago, I felt that I was in good health, even robust health. At 81, I still swim a mile a day. But my luck has run out—a few weeks ago I learned that I have multiple metastases in the liver.

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EXPLORE TOPIC

Cancer